A man who hit his girlfriend in the face threatened to sexually assault a police officer’s grandchild when they came to arrest him.
Connor McInearney struck the woman during an argument, bruising her eye and cutting her nose.
But when police showed up he made racial slurs and threatened to kill them and their families, along with the sexual threat towards an officer’s grandson.
McInearney, 25, of no fixed abode, appeared for sentencing via videolink from custody at Inverness Sheriff Court having previously pled guilty to charges of assault to injury and threatening or abusive behaviour as well as a breach of his bail conditions following the incident.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood told the court that the incident had begun at an address in Kingussie on September 10 last year, with a disagreement between McInearney and his then partner.
She said: “The accused and his partner at the time had been home and an argument had taken place. During the course of this the accused struck his partner.”
Woman injured in attack
The court heard that the woman was left with bruising to her left eye, swelling to her right cheekbone and a cut on her nose, which was bleeding.
Police were called but as they detained McInearney and took him to Burnett Road Police Station he made repeated threats towards them and their families.
Miss Hood told the court that McInearney used racial slurs towards the officers, uttered offensive remarks and made threats including: “I’m going to murder you and your family” and “I’m going to put a kitchen knife up in your jugular.”
Sexual threat to grandchild
The court heard he also made a sexual threat toward an officer’s grandchild.
Solicitor Patrick O’Dea, for McInearney, told the court that a period in custody had given his client, a plant operator, “time to reflect”.
He conceded that: “He has let himself down.”
Referring to the day of the incident he said: “He was under the influence of quite a lot of alcohol. Not an excuse but probably explains, to some degree, what happened.”
“He accepts that the comments made to the constables in the circumstances were appalling,” Mr O’Dea added.
Sheriff Margaret Neilson said: “Whatever the provocation was he should not have acted as he did. I have got no option other than to impose a custodial sentence.”
She jailed McInearney for nine months, backdated to January 17.
She also imposed a two-year non-harassment order, preventing McInearney from contacting his former partner.
